Charges reduced in McMinnville middle school "party boy" case

McMINNVILLE -- Charges against a pair of McMinnville middle school boys who allegedly groped, swatted and rubbed up against female classmates have been reduced to misdemeanors, a Yamhill County deputy district attorney said today.

Amended petitions filed in juvenile court charge the 12- and 13-year-old boys with five counts each of third-degree sexual abuse and five counts each of harassment of a sexual nature, said Debra Markham, the county prosecutor assigned to juvenile cases.

All the charges are misdemeanors. Previously, five of the sexual abuse counts against the boys were charged as felonies.

Markham said the reduced charges were based on a review of the circumstances and completion of psychological evaluations of the boys.

"Based upon that, we felt these are the most appropriate charges," she said. Other cases have been handled in a similar fashion, she said.

The boys are not in custody. Their next hearing is June 11.

If convicted -- the legal term for juveniles is "found within the jurisdiction of the court" -- the boys could face punishment ranging from simple probation to an unlikely maximum of confinement in a juvenile facility for up to a year on each count.

The case began in February when a teacher at Patton Middle School saw the boys slapping girls on their bottoms and ordered them to stop. When they persisted, the boys were taken to the principal's office.

Police later said the boys were imitating a "party boy" dance and other behavior they'd seen in the movie "Jackass." Markham said four girls were victimized.